The picnic that saved my grandmother’s life

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Contributed by : Emily Danies

Object # 1297

My grandmother, Anna Palevsky Shomsky, was born in Kobrin (now in Belarus). Escaping religious rules, she became independent in New York. Grandma and Tante Paulie worked at the Triangle Factory. On her way to work on March 25, 1911, my grandmother met some “Kobriners” and skipped work to go on a picnic with them. It saved her life, and she later married Philip Shomsky, whom she met that day. Tante Paulie was in the fire and jumped, expecting to die. Her skirts caught on a beam and she was rescued.